THE PAINTINGS OF JAMES BISIGNANO

Aeromobilia is very pleased to present a select group of original paintings by noted artist James Bisignano. If the last name seems familiar, Jim’s brother John Bisignano was deeply involved in television coverage and commentary of Formula One racing for many years. Clearly, the love of motorsport has substantial family roots.

Jim’s artworks not only depict significant moments in racing history, but express a unique painterly approach to the subject matter. Minute detail is discarded in favor of utilizing a broad brush stroke to impart speed. He relies upon the interplay of light and shadow to develop form, rather than producing a painstaking photorealistic rendering. It is refreshing to see motorsport through the eyes of a real painter. His familiarity with his medium (watercolor) permits him to work quickly, allowing the paint to create areas of action throughout the scene. Quite clearly, Jim Bisignano is a highly accomplished artist, proven by his presence in some of the world’s most prestigious collections. A short biography follows:

Jim Bisignano was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1939. He received a B.F.A. from the University of Notre Dame and continued his studies at the Art School, Society of Arts and Crafts in Detroit, The Cranbrook Museum School in Bloomfield Hills, MI, and the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Association.  He was employed for five years by General Motors as an automotive designer but resigned in 1968 to pursue his own artistic ambitions.  He exhibited annually in Europe from 1972 – 1975 and then across the United States at the Watkins Glen Paddock, Maxwell’s Gallery in San Francisco, the Frye Museum in Seattle, Percival Galleries in Iowa, The Snite Museum in Indiana, and The Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley.  Among his collectors are Prince Rainier of Monaco, Philip Morris of Europe, and Count Gregorio Rossi de Montelara of Martini and Rossi, Ernest Gallo, Edsel Ford, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and many more.

Bisignano’s early career in auto design has been celebrated in two recentbooks published in 2019 and 2023by Patrick Kelley -“Imagine! Automobile Concept Art from 1930’s – 1980’s” and “Imagine Too!: Towards the Future”.  Jim’s work is featured among a collection of auto designers whose “contributions and imagination, transport us back to a time in US commercial history when the wildest dreams were encouraged and there was nothing but the open road ahead.”

Jim Bisignano passed away in 2022.  The paintings you see here represent the few pieces of auto-racing subject matter that remain of his work within the family estate.